Programming and Technology blog

In my last post The Hyper-V n00b Experience I gave my experiences with setting up a couple of guest OS's in Hyper-V. This post will be geared towards how I setup my network configuration for Hyper-V or rather how I changed the mess that I made with the first setup so I decided to start from scratch. By no means is this a definitive guide as to how to setup multiple NICs for for a VM environment, like the title says I am a n00b at this so take it with a grain of salt.

First thing first; networking in Hyper-V is not as black and white as most might think, there are some changes and when configuring your Hyper-V server for networking for the first time will make some changes to your current network configuration that will make you go hmmmmm.....

Before you do configure networking you check out the following blog posts as they all offer a really good insight and explanation of how it all works.

Now my setup has two NIC's involved so while it does not make it any more difficult it does add couple of extra configurations steps to make it correct. The reason I installed two network cards is not for redundancy but to have one NIC dedicated to the OS and one dedicated to the VM's. This is not a requirement but it makes making networking changes on the VM side of things way easier if you want to go totally hardcore with your VM environment.

In the Begining

So this is what my Network Connections list looks like before I do anything

"Local Area Connection" is the onboard NIC and will be used as the dedicated OS connection to my network

"Local Area Connection 2" is the add-on NIC and will be used as the dedicated VM connection

Personally I always change default names to something more meaningful on any server I setup so I change "Local Area Connection" to "OS Network Connection" and I leave the 2nd alone for now because the meaning will change in a couple more steps.

Setup Hyper-V to use a NIC

Next change the Hyper-V settings to use the add-on NIC for it's connection. Open up the Hyper-V Manager and highlight the server on the left then right click -> and select Virtual Network Manager. The following dialog box with be visible.

Select External Network and hit the Add button; you will get a dialog box similar to this but I have already filled in some of the options for my configuration.

The virtual network name I used is the same name as the physical NIC according to Windows; I added a "Virtual" prefix to it for more of a readability standpoint. This name actually maps to the Device Name property in the Network Connections list. Again I like to have meaning to names.

Looking at the Network Connections you can see a new network connection "Local Area Connection" and the device is the Virtual Intel(R) PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter, the same one setup in the Virtual Network Manager. The original "Local Area Connection 2" is now a virtual switch and the "Local Area Connection" is a virtual network adapter that is connected to the virtual switch. When configuring VM's this will be the virtual network adapter for used to bind to for connectivity.

Name change time

The new Virtual VM Switch device properties

The Virtual VM Switch (original "Local Area Connection 2") has only the Microsoft Virtual Network Switch Protocol enabled, this is normal. The physical NIC is now configured as a virtual switch.

The new Virtual MV Network Connection Properties

The new network connection or "virtual adapter" for my VM's by default has TCP/IP enabled and obtain IP via DHCP enabled, this is not what you want when running two physical NICs. What you want to do is disable all of the bindings from the virtual adapter (like in above picture) so that it is basically useless from the host or parent partition standpoint. Remember the VM's will be linked to the virtual switch which routes through the second physical NIC (Intel desktop). Removing all of the bindings allows for a straight pass though effect as well not allowing the physical host to use the NIC in any shape or form. Which is the desirable effect for me since it's not about redundancy. More about this setup can be read on John Howard's virtualization blog and comments Hyper-V: What are the uses for different types of virtual networks?.

Re-Configure existing virtual machines

After this was completed I then had to update my current VM's to use the new network adapter (remember this is a fix for the rushed original setup). To do this it's as easy as opening up the settings for each VM and change the Network Adapter settings to the new virtual adapter. When you open up an existing VM you will notice that there is a Connection Error for the adapter, this is normal since I changed the virtual adapter. This is what my VM settings look like now:

All in all it was a pretty good learning experience and I now have a better understanding of how Hyper-V implements it's networking. My VM's can now get out on my network and the internet and the separate NIC is dedicated for VM use only.

So decided to take my new server for a spin and try out the Hyper-V role. I have a couple of vhd files (Virtual Hard Drives) kicking around circa Virtual PC days and I figured that I would try and “convert” them to Hyper-V. I ended up finding several articles that say “you can do this” but you need to do xxx steps to do it. All I have to say is don’t bother, I found that I spent as much time trying to get a copy of the XP SP3 IE7 testing VM to work as it would doing a fresh install of XP w/SP3 slip-streamed which is what I ended up doing in the end. There are countless articles on how to setup a Hyper-V VM out there so I will only give you my observations/tips on how I ended up installing some guest OS’s.

In General

Mount an ISO rather than use a CD/DVD as your install media, it seems to go faster

XP needs SP3 or the Integration Services will not install

Vista needs SP1 or the Integration Services will not install (you will get an error "you need a newer verison to continue")

If you are RDPing into your server to create VM’s and you connect to the VM using the VM Connection app don’t be surprised if your response time for the guest OS UI is brutal (especially Vista). Turning off the visuals does help but not as much as you would think

Somtimes it seems that you have lost control of the keyboard during an install (or even in the OS), you actually have not the carat | is just not visible, try typing anyway. This may happen untill you install the Integration Services.

Installing XP w/SP3

During the install you will get to the “Windows will now automatically setup your screen resolution” dialog box. What may happen here is the dialog box goes out of focus leaving you without anyway possible to click on the Ok button. Why? Well because you have not installed the Integration Services yet and that means no mouse support and limited keyboard access. ALT-CTR-TAB does not work (flipping between open windows in the VM) so what do you do? Well the easies thing to do is just turn off the VM and restart it again. You will get the “Windows did not shut down properly” prompt but no big deal, just start in Normal Mode.

Installing Vista w/SP1

Add the legacy network adapter for the Vista install just in case your network adapter does not work (like mine, an Intel no less) if you are going to access the network when installing

Make sure you have a copy of Vista with SP1, trying to update your VM with this will take a long time, especially using windows update and the legacy network adapter.

When RDP into host server and using the VM Connection app the response times for the guest OS UI would take at least 10 seconds (or more) for anything to happen from the time you hit the keyboard till the OS responded. I am not sure what to make of this as my configured VM had 2GB of memory and 2 virtual processors (see my hardware specs).

The weirdness I had with the slow response times in the guest OS using the VM Connection app still baffle me since I cannot figure out why it was like that. I have run VMs in Virtual PC under a RDP connection in the same manner and the response times (while not stellar) were way better than this. RDPing into each guest OS it worked like it was installed on an actual physical box, which is probably the whole point of virtualizing in the first place.

All in all both VM’s did get installed and I had a chance to fool around with Hyper-V some. While I have used Virtual PC and Virtual Server quite a bit in the past, the Hyper-V management console and creating VM’s using it was a vast improvement over the clunky Virtual Server UI. I can see MS creating trial versions of their products on pre installed vhd’s to be run under Hyper-V in the not to distant future. It would be a pretty slick way to try out the product without having to waste time installing it if you just want to give it a spin and not worry about configuration.

So I decided to dump Visual Source Safe (VSS) and move to something that is more robust and is pretty easy to setup. Poking around the internet it became pretty clear that VisualSVN would be my choice mostly because of its integration with Active Directory. I never liked that fact that in VSS stored it’s user info and settings in a plain text file and anyone who had access to it with modify privileges could change anyone permissions. This is not really a tutorial but a means to show interested developers and IT professionals just how easy it is to install VisualSVN and integrate it with your Active Directory model.

Pre-Amble

Pre-Setup

Installation

Post-Installation

Active Directory Setup

NTFS Setup

Conclusion

Pre-Amble
The version of VisualSVN I ended up installing is v1.6.2; the server environment is Windows 2003 Standard (32bit). Active Directory installed and fully configured.

Pre-SetupIf you are like me the first thing you will want to do is create a location for your Repositories. Since my file server has a data drive (d:) it made sense to create in on that drive so I could do backups from it. So I created the folder structure [D:SourceControlRepositories].

Installation
When you download the latest msi from the site it informs you that to setup VisualSVN you need to install TortoiseSVN as well. This is actually not true as TortoiseSVN is just a visual GUI to access the SVN server. You will need a SVN client like TortoiseSVN add/check in/out files unless you download one of the few VSS provider plug-ins for Visual Studio if development integration is your primary goal.

When you run the installer these are your only options to configure VisualSVN server:

Change the Repositories folder to the folder you created in the Pre-Setup section

Change the Authentication to Use Windows authentication

You may want to change the port number if you have some kind of internal numbering scheme for ports but remember VisualSVN uses a fully configured version of apache so you will not need to integrate it with another web server.

When you select the Next button the install will start and eventually complete.

Post-InstallationOnce the setup is completed you will be asked to launch the MMC snap-in for configuring the VisualSVN server (note at this time there is no way to configure remote VisualSVN servers if you are looking to install VisuaSVN on a Windows 2008 Core install. It is however something will be available in the future based on traffic on the VisualSVN Google groups).

Once the MMC launches you can configure the VisualSVN server further as well us it to create new repositories. You should read the Recommended Repository Layout support topic on best practices on configuring a layout structure when creating Repositories.

When you click on the Server Url in the right hand window you will be taken to the web site of your VisualSVN server. You will get the common “There is a problem with this website's security certificate.“ error in your browser. This is due to the SSL certificate that is assigned to the apache web server on install, which is a self-signed certificate.

You will also be challenged with a ACL user name / password prompt. This information is the same as your domain login since you selected to use Windows authentication. By default the setup adds the Builtin/Users group from your domain for the ACL list.

Active Directory SetupTo change the ACL groups highlight the Repositories node in the left window -> right click -> properties. There you will see a common security window you can add or remove groups from your domain.

How I configured my setup was to create a single group in my AD called Software Developers and add users to this group so that only users in this group can access the VisualSVN server. Depending on your AD requirements you may implement it differently. One of the nice things about this setup is the fact that the VisualSVN server runs as a service (by default under the LocalSystem account).

NTFS Setup
As I mentioned in the Active Directory Setup section the VisualSVN server runs as a Windows Service under a privileged account. You will also need to set up your ACL for the SourceCode folder to allow the groups access to read and write permissions.

Conclusion
The entire install was pretty easy and intuitive and with the AD integration it is a breeze to configure and secure. The only extra thing I did was to create an actual certificate request from the VisualSVN Server Properties window -> Certificates Tab and submit that request to my AD Certificate server. I then imported the certificate once I authorized it. What this does is for users that are AD authenticated you will not get the SSL certificate error in your browser or probably any other application that uses SSL to access the server.

As you can see here I have a valid certificate that is authorized within my AD network and thus no more certificate errors

So I decided a couple of weeks ago to retire my old home server that was doing dual purpose as a file share/media server/testing/everything else including AD server by investing in a real setup, something that I can be proud of. This is what I decided on for the hardware and some of my thoughts on each piece while installing it.

1 x CoolerMaster CM690 Black ATX Case

1 x XFX GeForce 8200 MB

1 x AMD Phenom X4 9550 CPU

4 x 2096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel RAM

1 x Thermaltake TR2-R1 CPU Cooler

2 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB HD

2 x WD Caviar 160GB HD

1 x Ultra X3 ULT40073 600-Watt PSU

1 x Intel Desktop 1000GB Network card

CoolerMaster CM690 Black ATX Case

Tool-less design so everything is pretty much snap in place

5 x 3.5" drive bays are at a right angle to the MB so it’s way easier to get them in and out

Each bay has a drive tray that you mount the drive in so you can slide the drive in and out with a little handle, also snaps in place

If installing 4 drives at once you may want to take off the opposite case panel (backside of MB) to get the power and SATA wires setup first as it gets a little tight for space back there

Has loads of fan mounts even two on the bottom (one for power supply)

Power supply is mounted on the bottom of the case and can be mounted upside down

This allows for the power supply to suck cool air in from underneath the case and out through the back, thus not using the hot air from the case to help with cooling

The internal mounts for the power supply on the case have rubber grommets to help with vibration as well as a foam gasket on the back to give a better seal

Does have some mounting issues (see my thoughts on the PSU I purchased)

Comes with preinstalled fans:

1 x back of case

1 x on main side panel

1x on front

This is one of those coloured light up fans (blue). It’s not that bright and can be replaced with another 120mm fan.

Fans are low flow (around 1200rpm and are pretty quiet but look cheap)

To install the optical drive you will need to remove the front panel, the manual is useless for this and the panel required a good pull to get it off. Even though I gave it a good yank the plastic clips that hold it in place did not break (something I have done on cheaper cases to easily)

The front IO panel (USB, Mic, Headphones, 1934 and eSATA) ports are actually on the top which is kind of cool

The feet on the bottom are actually a hard rubber rather than plastic

XFX GeForce 8200 MB

MicroATX board with 6 SATA ports

Ports 5 & 6 can not be used in SATA mode only RAID

LED Display on IO panel for error codes (was never able to find the error code list)

Cooling on integrated chipsets was low profile so CPU cooler fit without a hitch

Comes with easy setup guide (4 pages), manual would have been better

Does support DEP and hardware virtualization assistance (needed for Hyper-V)

Has indicator lights for DDR Dual channel setup properly (for newbs)

Comes with a way to configure RAID via the BIOS or a Windows control panel like interface (called MediaShield)

AMD Phenom X4 9550 CPU

If you have seen one CPU you have seen them all

PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel RAM

Had heat sinks on them which was cool I guess

Same as processor if you seen one stick you have seen them all

Thermaltake TR2-R1 CPU Cooler

Great little fan, very quite and keeps the CPU cool

Comes with what looks like "silver" thermal paste on the bottom not that white stuff

Is a bit high, if you have one of those CPU cone things on the main side panel of your case for the CPU fan to pull air in you may have to take it off.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB HD

Stayed clear of the 1.5TB drives due to the reports of poor performance

Raid 1 configured without a hitch

Will be used as the data drive

WD Caviar 160GB HD

Solid little drive

Raid 1 configured without a hitch

Will be used as the system drive

Ultra X3 ULT40073 600-Watt Power Supply

Modular cable design with lots of connectors

Large 135mm fan (very quiet, low flow)

With the case that I bought the 135mm fan on the PSU made mounting it a bit tricky, the mounting grommets on the bottom of the case did not align properly at times. It seemed that one or more of the mounting grommets on the case slipped into the PSU fan screw holes (probably because the fan is not a standard 120mm so the hole is bigger) which caused the PSU to tip from side to side at times. Once it was screwed into place it seemed fine.

Intel Desktop 1000GB Network card

It was either this or a 3com, this was cheaper

No worries about drivers with either Intel/3Com for any Windows OS probably the best supported card out there.

I will be mapping the VM’s to this card only; the OS gets its own dedicated LAN via the onboard one.

Recently I have read on various blogs about the demise of one of the newest technologies to enter the .NET framework Linq to SQL. Well it’s not its demise but from what others have said it’s more like a “don’t count on it being there and updated in the future” statement. Scott Allen over at OdeToCode has a pretty good blog article about “The Estrangement of LINQ to SQL” and his thoughts on what is going on and how he feels about it.

This is one of the reasons that as a developer of over 10+ years have never really jumped into bed with the latest and greatest technologies/frameworks/methodologies because you never really know if they will be around or supported in a years time. This is probably why I and a few other developers that I know tend to follow a POD (Plain ol’ Development) process. While it might not be as glamorous and the talk around the water cooler it surely gets the job done and you more often than not do not get bitten in the ass by the addiction to these gateway drugs.

Lately it seems that a growing number of developers are showing signs of ADHD (the persistent pattern of impulsiveness part). Jumping on the latest and greatest just for the sake of “doing it first”. There are always two sides to the coin, it does drive interesting ideas and development but at the same time I believe that it is creating a whole generation of code that is not maintainable because of how quickly these drugs are dispensed to us and when the next big fix is just around the corner to become addicted to.